Please contact Julian or Fiona Meyrick in advance on 01925 770865 to register so that we have an idea of numbers.

Mobile Library

The Library will visit Gaydon on Thursday 20 May.

Friendship Club

Our next meeting will be on Tuesday 18 May at 2.30pm at the home of Mrs Olive Richards, Almeley Chase, Kineton Road.

Coffee Morning

Gaydon Village Hall on Saturday 15 May at 11am; Home-made cakes and jam; Bring and Buy; Raffle; N.B. 3rd Saturday rather than 2nd.

Open House!

Saturday 5 June, 3-5pm at Barnfield, Church Lane

John, Philip, David, Keith and Donald would like to invite the community of Gaydon to an afternoon of tea and cakes; and to welcome our new resident, Donald.

Helen Thornton

Parish Council Annual Meeting

The Annual Meeting of the Parish Council will be on Thursday, 13th May at 7.30pm.

Bee Aware!

Honey bees - a vital part of our food economy - have, as you know, been struggling to survive. There are lots of popular questions:

'Isn't there a mite thing?'

'How much honey do you make?'

'Manuka honey - isn't it much better for you than English honey?'

'How do you remember their names?'

We'll be addressing these and many more questions at 7.00 for 7.30pm in the Village Hall on May 27th. We'll have an informative display, honey to try, a presentation and a small colony of bees in an observation hive so you can see the queen and her community live and in total safety. Martyn is cooking something for us that could include sausages and weather permitting he may get the barbecue out!

Wine and soft drinks will also be available.

Spring is here! - bring yourselves, something to eat on/with and £7.00. Just call me to book: David Faulkner 01926 691191 or 07766 656905 or email me on dfbox@aol.com before Tuesday 25th then we'll know how how many to cater for.

Note: This is definitely NOT a Men's Group production!

Neighbourhood Watch

Gaydon Report: another quiet month.

Police Community Message

Your garden, as well as your house, has valued possessions that thieves would love to steal. It also has equipment that could help them break into your house.

Most burglars are lazy and they look for easy ways of getting into a house or garden. If you have a burglar alarm, why not extend it to cover outbuildings and sheds? A barrier of prickly hedge may be all the protection you need around your property.

What can you do?

Photograph valuable garden plants or ornaments, put away all tools and equipment and ensure that all outside sheds and store cupboards are securely locked when not in use. Bring the tools inside if you do not have a garden shed or outbuilding. Install outside security lighting that comes on automatically. Mark your property with your postcode.

Visit The Gaydon Inn!

1st-3rd - May Bank Holiday Weekend -We are open all day as usual Saturday and Sunday for drinks and food

and we will be open all day Monday for drinks and food served at usual times

14th May - Italian Evening -Join us for a superb night which will entail Italian food and Music

Book your table soon! Starts at 7pm

29th May - Live Music -Local Man with a Guitar, playing live, this will be a good evening! Starts at 8.30pm

29th - 31st May - Spring Bank Holiday weekend -Don''t forget we are open all day Saturday and Sunday, so no need to rush as we serve Sunday Roast all day and you can even have a Sunday Roast Takeaway!

4th June - Steak Night -A tasty evening with a variety of Steaks on offer. Don''t worry if you need a veggie option, we can cater!

Now Spring is here, enjoy our Large Garden with Children's Area. We do Takeaways - everyday! Pick up one of our Takeaway Menus!

01926 640388 or email the gaydoninn@btconnect.com

Nature Notes

The blue skies and higher temperatures of recent days have spurred a flurry of activity. I have watched Bluetits frantically gathering nesting materials and uncharacteristically agressive courtship by Collared Doves is seen on rooftops. The large flock of Goldfinches and Siskins seems to be diminishing, couples of Goldfinches singing stridently in my Walnut tree. The Blackthorn bushes are in flower and early Plum blossom attracts the bees.

I am glad to see that hibernating butterflies like Peacocks, Small Tortoiseshells and Brimstones have survived the harsh winter and are on the wing. I have seen my first Orange-Tip: this is a species that overwinters as a pupa and due to climate change is producing two broods per year (another hatching will emerge in late August). The early April brood used to be on the wing in June. It's possible that other species like the Holly Blue and Green-veined White may be on the wing soon too.

Our local Buzzards have paired up and must be nesting locally. I have seen one settled on the Kineton Road, pulling a roadkill rabbit from the tarmac and then passing it to a mate in mid-air - though it was dropped rather inexpertly. The yellow splashes of Primroses and early Cowslips are increasingly frequent due to the lack of spraying on verges: a good show at Chesterton Wood, Warmington Hill and Chadshunt churchyard. Many wild Violets are flowering on the footpath verges and the sheaths of Lords and Ladies, a deadly-poisonous plant of the Lily genus, are pushing up through the hedge bottoms.

I have also seen my first Swallow, a single bird on the 10th of April over the village graveyard. We must hope that a few will still find a nesting place in one of the increasingly scarce unconverted Agricultural buildings later in

the year. Bernard Price.

St Giles PCC News

The church held its Annual Parochial Church Meeting on Sunday 11 April. It was well attended by 22 parishioners and chaired by the Rural Dean, Rev'd Burrell. At the meeting Mrs Margaret Phelps was elected as Churchwarden again and Mr Martyn Hamm was also voted in as Churchwarden to replace Mr John Goldsmith who stood down.

Mrs Mary Fox also resigned from the PCC after many years' service both as Churchwarden and Secretary. A vote of thanks was given to Mr Goldsmith and Mrs Fox. A short PCC meeting took place after the APCM. Afterwards, a lunch was held in the village hall and enjoyed by all.

Baptism

Joshua James Godfrey was christened at St Giles' Church on Sunday 18 April.

Parish Council News

Flood Defence

County Council Solicitors have been in contact with the Parish Council regarding the Banbury Road pipe. We hope that they will be contacting the 3 landowners affected by this installation shortly. Highways have said that they are unable to clear the pond along the Kineton Road. They understand that a survey would need to take place to ensure that there are no crested newts living in it. They have been quoted £1000 for the survey, with further costs if there is a need to resite any newts. The drainage into the pond and out of the pond is clear and so they do not envisage this causing any flooding issues. They will re-inspect the pond and should it become completely overgrown with weeds, decide a course of action. The railings around the pond are unstable and Highways are looking at replacing them.

Cemetery Fence

The Cemetery fence has been vandalized in the top corner by the footpath. Clearly someone has deliberately made an access point here by clipping away the fencing. If anyone knows anything about this could they please contact the Clerk and we will pursue it as criminal damage. There used to be an entrance here which the Parish Council sealed up, opening up another entrance further down the path to avoid people having to walk over the graves if they went into the cemetery at that point. The small path alongside the cemetery has been very muddy during the recent bad weather but we would suggest that a pair of wellingtons is the solution to that, not the destruction of community property.

Pimple Lane Gratings

The gratings on the Northend side of Pimple Lane have been stolen. If anyone knows anything about this could they please contact the Clerk or the Police.

St Giles' Church Clock

As many of you know this is a war memorial and the responsibility of the Parish. It has just been serviced and we hope it will continue to keep good time.

Dog Fouling (Again)

A resident of Church Lane has placed a notice beside a pile of dog excrement left on his gravel asking the owner to pick it up. We would also ask the owner responsible to do so. This carries a fine of up £1000, apart from being extremely anti-social.

Next Meeting

The Annual Meeting of the Parish Council will take place on Thursday, 13th May, at 7.30pm. At this meeting we will be appointing a Chair.

Village Bee Meadows

Ann Loscombe and Wendy Campbell-Briggs are Warwickshire based environmental artists with a passion for honey bees and pollinators in general. They are in the process of creating an environmental art project based at the University of Warwick where they will plant an area of 7,560sqm with wildflowers, site two bee hives and create an art work to inform people of the plight of the honey bee and the importance of pollinators in the food chain.

Throughout this project they have collaborated with the W.I., the British Beekeepers Association, the Warwickshire Wildlife Trust, the Woodland Trust, Landlife and the University of Warwick's Estates Office, Environmental Office and Warwick Volunteers. This project will form part of Warwickshire Artsweek and activities have been arranged for the first weekend in July. Visit their blog: www.warwick.ac.uk/about/community/volunteers/projects/environment/beehabitat

There are now no wild honey bees in England and there are certain crops that rely on honey bees for pollination, such as strawberries, pears, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, plums, cherries, and beans. How awful to have to imagine a world without the colour or taste of fruit and veg!

Wendy and Ann would like to work with village communities to plant areas of wildflowers, to train members of the community to look after bees and to work with the local children to teach them about the importance of pollinators to provide food. An artwork would then be sited in the village to proclaim the residents' commitment to helping bees and pollinators.

Environmental art is not a wacky, hippyesque activity. It is about artists being committed to an issue that effects, in this case, the whole world, and making a statement to raise awareness and where possible doing something practical to help. By planting as many meadows as possible, and training people how to look after hives and keep bees we can all do something to help and ensure a varied and colourful diet for ourselves, our children and our children's children.

If you think your village would be interested in hearing more about Wendy and Ann's project and getting involved in creating your own bee meadow, please contact: ann.loscombe@btinternet.com

Village Hall News

The Annual General Meeting of the Village Hall Committee will be held on Wednesday 12 May at 8pm.

Shipston Home Nursing

Gaydon Village Store

We held our first AGM on Friday 9 April in the village hall. It was attended by over 30 people and we all had a chance to look around the new shop and to taste some of the lovely products which will be on sale in the shop. We aim to open for trading in mid-May with an official launch party date of 19 June 2010 at 3pm to be held in the village hall and in the shop. There will be champagne and strawberries and everyone is welcome to attend. We do still desperately need more volunteers. The success of the project depends on more people coming forward. We are inviting people to spend only 2 hours per week behind the counter. All volunteers will be on a rota system and volunteers are free to swop their "shift" with another volunteer if they need to. If you think you can help or would like to know more then please contact us via our website www.gaydonvillagestore.com or telephone 07794 187352.

Unfortunately, owing to lack of numbers, the Murder Mystery evening planned for 24 April has had to be cancelled, although we will consider doing this again later in the year. We are concentrating our efforts on stocking the shop and working out how many hours per week we can be open for.

The committee has been approved by the Village Retail Services Association (ViRSA) to obtain another grant which would be sufficient to allow us to consider employing a part time Manager/Manageress in the near future. If you are interested, have relevant retail experience and bags of enthusiasm, please contact us.

Thank you for your continued support. Claire Hamm

F R A W T

(Feldon Residents Against Wind Turbines) are holding a Spring Sale of nearly-new, good quality, Furniture,